ECHL ECHL

K-Wings, Steelheads, Stingrays Lead League

Published on November 16, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Posting back-to-back wins against Cincinnati to extend their winning streak to four games, Kalamazoo leads the ECHL and is tied for the overall lead in North America professional hockey with a winning percentage of .875. The expansion K-Wings, who are second in the league with 10 wins and third with 21 points, improved to 4-1-0 at home with the wins against the Cyclones. Kalamazoo is 7-1-1 when it scores the first goal and leads the league with 4.50 goals per game. The K-Wings are 6-0-1 in one-goal games, including 2-0 in shootouts and 1-1 in overtime. The expansion K-Wings, who are 4-1-0 at home and 6-0-1 on the road, host Trenton on Friday and Sunday.

Sweeping a three-game series at Stockton, Idaho improved to 11-2-1 to lead the league with 23 points and 11 wins while ranking second with a winning percentage of .821. The Steelheads, who are 3-1-0 at home and 8-1-1 on the road, have allowed a league-low 32 goals and lead the ECHL in goals-against average with 2.29. Idaho, which returns home to host Victoria on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, is 5-0-1 in one-goal games, including 1-0 in overtime and 1-1 in shootouts.

Defending Kelly Cup champion South Carolina is 7-0-2 in the last nine games to improve to 9-2-4 and first place in the South Division and second in the league with 22 points. The Stingrays, who are third in the league with nine wins and a winning percentage of .733, are 6-1-2 on the road and 3-1-2 at home. South Carolina is 7-1-4 in one-goal games, including 1-1 in overtime and 2-3 in shootouts. The Stingrays, who rank second in the league on the penalty kill with 87.5 percent (70-for-80), play at Charlotte on Wednesday before hosting Gwinnett on Friday and Saturday and Johnstown on Sunday.

Idaho's Rejean Beauchemin is 4-0-0 and leads the league with a goals-against average of 1.75 and a save percentage of .931 while rookie teammate Richard Bachman is 6-2-1 and ranks third with a goals-against average of 2.28. Ryan Nie of Kalamazoo is 4-0-0 and ranks second in goals-against average with 2.17 and save percentage with .929 while teammate Jeremy Duchesne is 4-0-0 with a goals-against average of 2.88 and a save percentage of .914. Todd Ford of South Carolina is 6-1-1 with a goals-against average of 2.83 and a save percentage of .909 while rookie teammate Braden Holtby is 3-1-3 with a goals-against average of 2.74 and a save percentage of .913. Ford and Bachman are tied for the league lead in wins with Curtis Darling of Ontario and Michael Ouzas of Las Vegas while Duchesne and Scott Reid of Alaska are tied for the ECHL lead with two shootout wins each.

Rick Cleaver leads Kalamazoo with 11 assists and 19 points, which ties him for seventh in the ECHL, while Mathieu Curadeau has a team-high nine goals and 13 points tying him for second with rookie Trent Daavettila (8g-5a). Tyler Spurgeon leads Idaho with 13 assists and 16 points while rookie Evan Barlow has a team-leading eight goals and is second with 14 points. Rookie Nikita Kashirsky leads South Carolina with 10 goals and his 15 points tie him for the team lead with Keith Johnson, who has a team-high 10 assists. Kashirsky and Barlow are tied for the league rookie lead and tied for second overall with three game-winning goals.



Attendance Rises Again



The ECHL raised its average attendance for the second straight week and is 5.7 percent ahead of its average for the first five weeks of 2008-09 with 4,393 per game.

The only minor professional hockey league to increase average attendance each of the last two seasons, the Premier 'AA' Hockey League has averaged more than 4,000 fans each of the last five seasons and 17 times in the last 19 years while drawing more than 3 million fans for 16 straight seasons.

To purchase tickets for any ECHL game go to ECHL.com/tickets.shtml.

Seven returning teams are ahead of their average attendance from a year ago including Elmira which has sold out four of their first five games to average 3,943 per game which is 104.2 percent of capacity at First Arena and up 18.3 percent from last season. Elmira has had 23 sellouts since joining the ECHL tying for the league lead a year ago with five sellouts after having a league-leading 14 sellouts their first season in 2007-08.

Gwinnett had 10,583 on Friday and is fourth in the league with 5,772 per game while Cincinnati is third with 5,889 fans per game, an increase of 89.7 percent from last season. The Gladiators average is up 3.8 percent from a year ago while the Cyclones are up 89.7 percent from 2008-09. Cincinnati, who is expecting a crowd of more than 8,000 for the annual "Education In Hockey Day" on Tuesday, averaged 3,104 per game a year ago to lead the ECHL and rank second in professional hockey with an attendance increase of over 23 percent. The 5,889 is an increase of 219 percent since 2006-07 and in 2007-08 Cincinnati led professional hockey with an increase of more than 36 percent.

Toledo leads the league with 6,466 per game while Stockton is second with 6,365 per game. The Walleye's average is up almost 65 percent from 2006-07 when the team played its last season in the Toledo Sports Arena. The Thunder, whose average is up 2.3 percent from last season, have led the ECHL in attendance each of their first four seasons and are trying to tie the league record of five years set by Florida from 2000-05.

Kalamazoo's average attendance is up 18.4 percent from last year when they competed in the International Hockey League while Utah's average is up 8.4 percent to 3,656 per game and Alaska is up 2.5 percent to 4,803 per game.

American Conference - North Division

Cincinnati Cyclones

* Cincinnati is projecting more than 9,000 on Tuesday which would be the largest regular season crowd in more than 10 seasons.
* Scott Reynolds scored two goals and four points at Kalamazoo on Nov. 13 and 14.
* Cyclones host Trenton on Tuesday and Wednesday before playing at Toledo on Friday and Saturday.

Kalamazoo Wings

* Kalamazoo has the best winning percentage in the ECHL with .875.

* Mathieu Curadeau has a six-game point streak (6g-2a).

* K-Wings host Trenton on Friday and Saturday.

Toledo Walleye

* Toledo leads the ECHL with 23 power-play goals and on the power play with 25.8 percent.
* Adam Hobson has scored in 10 of Toledo's 13 games and leads the team with 17 points (6g-11a).
* Walleye play at Cincinnati on Friday and Saturday.

Wheeling Nailers

* Wheeling is 2-0-1 in its last three games, all of which were decided in overtime.
* Mark Letestu became 40th Wheeling player to reach the NHL when he made his debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 14.
* Nailers play at Elmira on Friday and Saturday.

American Conference - East Division



Elmira Jackals

* Elmira' s 11-3 win at Gwinnett on Nov. 14 is the largest margin of victory for any team this season.
* Justin Donati (4g-2a) and Maxime Gratchev (1g-5a) tied the league season high with six points each on Nov. 14.
* Jackals host Wheeling on Friday and Saturday.

Johnstown Chiefs

* Johnstown has earned at least one point in each of its last five games (3-0-2).
* Rookie Connor Shields set career highs with three assists and three points at Wheeling on Nov. 14.
* Chiefs play at Charlotte on Friday and Saturday and at South Carolina on Sunday.

Reading Royals

* Reading improved to 6-0-2 in one-goal games after wins over Trenton on Nov. 13 and 14.
* Ben Gordon had his second and third two-goal games in wins at Johnstown on Nov. 11 and at Trenton on Nov. 14.
* Royals play at Florida on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Trenton Devils

* Trenton is first in the league on the penalty kill on the road with 92 percent (23-for-25).
* Dave Caruso is fifth in the ECHL with 237 saves.
* Devils play at Cincinnati on Tuesday and Wednesday and at Kalamazoo on Friday and Sunday.

American Conference - South Division

Charlotte Checkers

* Charlotte is fifth in the league in scoring with 3.55 goals per game.
* Michel Leveille leads the team with seven goals and 13 points.
* Checkers host South Carolina on Wednesday and Johnstown on Friday and Saturday.

Florida Everblades

* Florida has seven power-play goals in its last 23 chances (30.4 percent).
* Rob Hennigar has a seven-game point streak (6g-8a).
* Everblades host Reading on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Gwinnett Gladiators

* Gwinnett is tied for the league lead with 10 overtime/shootout points.
* Brad Schell is third in the league with 18 assists.
* Gladiators play at South Carolina on Friday and Saturday.

South Carolina Stingrays

* South Carolina is second in the league on the penalty kill with 87.5 percent (44-for-48).
* Nikita Kashirsky is tied for the league rookie lead with nine goals and three game-winning goals.
* Stingrays play at Charlotte on Wednesday before hosting Gwinnett on Friday and Saturday and Johnstown on Sunday.

National Conference - Pacific Division

Bakersfield Condors

* Bakersfield had its three-game winning streak end on Nov. 1.
* Gino Guyer scored the game winner and had an assist in his first game at Alaska on Nov. 13.
* Condors host Ontario on Wednesday and Alaska on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Las Vegas Wranglers

* Las Vegas is 3-0-0 when leading after two periods.

* Michael Ouzas leads the ECHL with 315 saves and is tied for lead with six wins.

* Wranglers play at Utah on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Ontario Reign

* Ontario ranks second in the league in goals-against average with 2.67.
* Curtis Darling made 47 saves in a 4-0 loss at Victoria on Nov. 14.
* Reign visit Bakersfield on Wednesday and host Stockton on Friday and Saturday.

Stockton Thunder

* Stockton needs 19,802 fans to reach 1,000,000 fans in club history.

* Kenny MacAulay is tied for second in the ECHL with 10 power-play assists.

* Thunder play at Ontario on Friday and Saturday.

National Conference - West Division

Alaska Aces

* Alaska ranks second in the league in shootout percentage with 41.7 (5-for-12).
* Colin Hemingway is tied for the ECHL lead with four shorthand points (2g-2a).
* Alaska visits Bakersfield on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Idaho Steelheads

* Idaho improved to 6-0-0 against Stockton this season with wins on Nov. 13, 14 and 15.
* Rookie forward Evan Barlow has three goals and four points in his last two games.
* Steelheads host Victoria on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Utah Grizzlies
* Utah is 8-2-0 which is its best start since going 11-3-0 to begin the 2005-2006 season.
* Ryan Kinasewich leads the ECHL with 27 points, 16 goals, five power-play goals and five game-winning goals.
* Grizzlies host Las Vegas on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Victoria Salmon Kings

* Victoria has posted a shutout in each of its three wins.

* Matt Keetley leads the ECHL with two shutouts and is 2-1-0 with a goals-against average of 1.01 in his first three starts.

* Salmon Kings play at Idaho on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

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ECHL Stories from November 16, 2009


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